Then and Now
by musicgirl1120
Summary: When Lexie gets sick while living with Meredith, it's up to her big sister to take care of her. However, in the process, Meredith reflects back on the first time her sister got sick since she met her. Set in Season 7 and Season 4.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey Guys! This is my first Grey's anatomy fic I have ever published! I have written two others I think, but never finished them or published them. However, I recently got Netflix and started rewatching Grey's from the beginning. That inspired this story. Let me know what you think! **

* * *

It had been a long 24 hour shift for Meredith. It was flu season and the ER had been slammed with cases of the flu along with gastroenteritis. Why people went to the ER instead of a clinic when they had the flu was beyond Meredith, but they had to treat everyone who came in. They also had all their normal cases that the ER got like broken bones, skiing accidents, and other winter related incidents.

Mer had, thankfully, thus far escaped any and all illnesses for the winter, giving her flu shot she got a lot of the credit, along with the fact that she had been vigilant about wearing a mask when seeing patients and washing her hands. As she walked into the residence locking room, she heard the undeniable sound of someone throwing up in the bathroom.

_Another one bites the dust, _Meredith thought, pulling off her scrubs and changing into her street clothes.

As she finished changing, she looked toward the door to see April coming in. April had been living with her for about two months at this point, and they had had the same schedule this week, along with Lexie, meaning the three women carpooled to work every day.

"Hey," Meredith said, offering April a tired smile, "How was your shift?"

"Pretty good," April said, "I'm on peds this week so lots of sick kids. I think we had three cases of what parents thought were the flu that ended up being appendicitis. How was your day?"

"Fine," Meredith said, "I was on trauma with Owen which meant a lot of time in the pit helping out with the flu until a car accident came in."

"Yuck," April said, changing her clothes as well, "Have you seen Lexie? I want to go home. I'm exhausted."

Unlike Meredith, April had been unlucky and had had a stomach bug earlier that week that had left her a little more tired than normal after her first day back.

"I haven't," Meredith said, turning as she heard the bathroom door open, "Oh no."

Out of the bathroom where Meredith had heard someone throwing up just minutes earlier walked a pale, slightly sweaty Lexie.

"Oh Lexie," April said, seeing how sick the woman looked.

"I think I caught a stomach bug," Lexie said, hand on her stomach, "I just spent the past ten minutes throwing up, and I think I have a fever."

"Yeah," Meredith said, going to her sister and putting her hand on her forehead, wincing at the heat she felt, "You defiantly caught something. I'm going to go grab some supplies. Get changed, and we will go home."

Meredith headed out into the hospital, going to one of the supply closets. She grabbed a few blue emesis bags, three bottles of Pedialyte in Lexie's favorite grape flavor, and an extra IV kit and bag of fluids just in case.

As she was leaving the supply room, she ran into Christina who was 12 hours in to her 24 hour shift.

"Woah," the future cardio surgeon, looking down at her friend's arms, "Are you coming down with a stomach thing?"

"No," Meredith said, shaking her head, "Lexie caught one though. She just spent ten minutes puking in the bathroom of the residence lounge."

"Gross," Christina said, nose wrinkling.

"Yeah," Meredith said, "We both just finished our shift so I'm going to take her home."

"Don't catch it," Christina said as her pager went off, "Call me if you need anything, and tell Lexie I hope she feels better."

Meredith nodded, walking away from her best friend. As much as Christina would deny it, she had a little soft spot for the younger of the Grey sisters. Meredith made it back to the locker room to find April and Lexie still sitting on the bench.

"Let's go," Meredith said, grabbing her purse and handing some of the supplies to April so she could help her younger sister out of the hospital.

On the way out, they ran into Derek.

"Hey," he said, coming up to Meredith and kissing her on the lips, "Heading home?"

"Yeah," Meredith said, nodding.

Her husband was on call for the next 24 hours, meaning she wasn't going to see him until the following day when she came back for her next shift. It was then that Derek looked over at Lexie and April.

"Oh no," he said, seeing how pale and sick his sister-in-law looked, "Did you catch the bug that's going around."

"Yeah," Lexie said, nodding a little, "I feel like crap."

"I'm going to go home and take care of her," Meredith said, "I'll see you tomorrow. Love you"

"See you. Love you too," Derek said, kissing her one more time, "Feel better Little Grey."

The three women made it to the car, Lexie climbing in the back with one of the blue bags just in case she got sick on their ten minute drive home.

Luckily, they made it home without incident, April helping Lexie into the house before going up to her room to sleep. She normally enjoyed helping when others were sick, but with her barely being over her own illness for 36 hours having just come off a 24 hour shift, she was too tired to do anything.

Meredith, on the other hand, took it upon herself to help Lexie in any way she could.

"Do you want to crash on the couch or in my bed?" Meredith asked her sister.

"Your bed?" Lexie said, confused.

"Well, there's no bathroom in the attic," Meredith said, "It's up two flights of stairs instead of one, and we don't have any extra rooms. Plus, Derek's working tonight so it won't be an issue."

"Alright," Lexie said, looking up at the stairs and sighing before going up the steps.

"I'll meet you up there," Meredith said, "And I'll go get you some pajamas from your room."

"Thanks," Lexie said, walking up the stairs slowly, a task that normally felt so easy now felt like climbing a mountain.

Meredith went into the kitchen, putting the Pedialyte in the fridge before going upstairs to take care of her sister.

Meredith ran up to Lexie's room, grabbing a few pairs of pajamas for her sister, knowing she might need more than one pair during this illness.

Meredith also found Lexie's favorite blanket, knowing from the last time her sister was sick that it was her comfort item when she didn't feel well.

Grabbing the blanket actually brought Meredith back to the first time she had seen her little sister sick. As she made her way back down to help Lexie get comfortable, she thought back to the first time she had ever seen Lexie sick.

* * *

**So there it was. What did you think! Did you like it? Let me know. The next chapter or two are going to be flashbacks to the first time Lexie was sick since she knew Meredith. I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. I typically post once a week, usually on Saturday or Sunday! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! Sorry this is a day later! I had to work more than I thought weekend which means I didn't have time to publish. However, I did have some time to write, and I think I may have finished it. After this chapter, I have two more chapters that I might publish either sometime this week or next weekend. Anyways, I hope you enjoy! **

* * *

_**Flashback **_

It was only about two weeks after everything went down with Thatcher in the ER. Meredith had given Lexie a firm warning that turned into the younger woman exploding with everything that had been happening.

Mer felt bad for her sister, but had yet to make up with her. She really didn't care that much about the younger woman, or at least that's what she told herself though she found herself keeping a closer eye on Lexie since she found out about her father.

Just a few days after everything had happened, there was a major outbreak of norovirus at the hospital.

Meredith had gotten it, and ended up praying to the porcelain god for almost twelve straight hours with very little reprieve. Derek had tried to help, but he had a big surgery that required him to do three surgeries over the course of four days, meaning he needed to stay healthy so she wouldn't let him in the house to prevent him from getting sick from her.

Alex had also gotten the bug around the same time as Meredith. They both had fevers for over 36 hours, forcing them to stay home from work to recover. The morning Alex and Meredith were finally well enough to go back to work, Izzie had woken up violently ill.

As much as the two friends hated to leave their friend who had helped take care of them when they were sick, they had to work because they had just taken two days off each.

Meredith actually wasn't supposed to work until the next day, but Christina had gotten sick the day before, and while she wasn't throwing up anymore, she still had a fever so she couldn't go to work. Meredith had agreed to take her best friend's 24-hour shift before going on to work her own 24-hour shift.

They went into the locker room, Meredith mentally preparing to take on Christina's annoying batch of interns, including the younger Grey who Meredith was not sure how she felt about.

However, by the end of her first 24-hour shift, Meredith was shocked at how well it went. Sure, Christina's interns were idiots, but so were her own. She managed to get a few hours of sleep during the shift, meaning that with a large cup of coffee, she was feeling relatively ready for her own shift.

She managed survive that shift somehow, even with non-stop trauma coming in from a car crash on the freeway. She was exhausted as she headed to the locker room.

She changed and headed out, getting stopped by a nurse in the hallway. Meredith had a few delinquent charts that her interns had failed to sign, sending her to the intern locker room to track down her idiot intern.

She walked in the door, finding the intern she needed. She handed over the charts, watching as the young aspiring surgeon sighed all the paperwork.

As she waited, Lexie walked into the room, looking like she had just woken up from sleeping, which struck Meredith as odd because Lexie had been off for the past 24 hours and should have gone home and should not look like she literally just rolled out of bed. Meredith also noticed that Lexie looked really pale.

"Lexie," Meredith said, getting the younger woman's attention, "Are you feeling alright? You look pale."

Lexie turned to answer her sister, only to take off running for the bathroom. Meredith sighed, knowing that Lexie was the next victim of the nasty virus that everyone had been getting. Meredith waited in the intern locker room until the younger Grey came out of the bathroom.

She didn't know why she stayed. It wasn't like she even liked her younger sister. However, she felt like she needed to at least make sure she was alright. Lexie came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, looking flushed and shakey.

"You need to go home Lexie," Meredith said, watching the younger woman sit down on the bench.

"I can't," Lexie said quietly, shaking her head, "I don't have a home to go to."

"What?" Meredith said, confused as she sat down next to the sick woman.

"Dad kicked me out," Lexie said, tears filling her eyes, "After he come into the ER a few weeks back. He kicked me out."

"Where have you been living?" Meredith asked, concerned.

"In an on-call room," Lexie said with a sigh, "I keep my stuff in my car and sleep in the on-call room. I need to get a place, but I haven't gotten the chance because everything at work has been so crazy, and I didn't know who to ask to go with me because normally I would have asked my mom, but she's gone and my dad is a drunk idiot and Molly is living across the country with her perfect little family and I don't have anyone."

Lexie was in tears by the end of her little rant.

"Slow down," Meredith said, "You can come stay at my place. We have extra space. Everyone has already had this bug. We have extra supplies. You can't stay here. The hospital is the last place you need to be if you are this sick, both for your sake and for the other people who are here."

Lexie nodded miserably as Christina walked in the door of the locker room to corral her interns.

"Three," Christina said, "Let's go."

"I can't," Lexie said, shaking her head.

"She's sick," Meredith said before Christina blew up at the young, vulnerable woman, "Don't worry. I'm taking you home."

"Alright," Christina said, giving Meredith a look before moving on.

Normally, the intense future cardiothoracic surgeon would have been making fun of Lexie for taking time off when she was sick, but the same virus had knocked her on her ass for the past two days so she had no room to judge.

"Do you want to get anything from your car? Meredith asked Lexie as she helped the younger woman stand up and head toward the door.

"Yeah," Lexie said, nodding, "Can you also grab an emesis bag or something. I don't think I'm going to make it to your house without getting sick. Sorry."

"Don't apologize," Meredith said, stopping in a supply closet, "I had this bug. It wasn't good. Derek is still staying in his trailer so he doesn't catch it."

Lexie nodded, taking the blue bag from Meredith as they headed out of the hospital. They made it to Lexie's car, the younger woman unlocking the door and sorting through her stuff.

As Meredith watched, she couldn't help but feel sorry for her half-sister. She looked so pitiful riffling through her stuff that was all in her car. Lexie came out with her car with a bag full of stuff, locking her car back up.

"Come on," Meredith said, walking toward her car.

Lexie got into Meredith's car, closing her eyes as the older woman started driving. Alex had gone in to work his shift because they were on opposite schedules this week. She was supposed to have the same schedule as Izzie, but then Izzie got sick so that hadn't happened.

About half way home, Lexie suddenly stiffened and before Meredith could ask what was wrong, the younger woman lurched forward and threw up in the blue bag she was holding. Meredith just kept driving, hoping the sick woman didn't throw up anywhere but in the bag.

Eventually, Lexie sat back, keeping the sick bag in her hand.

"You alright?" Meredith asked, looking over at Lexie.

The sick woman just shrugged, spitting a mouth full of saliva into the bag.

"Here," Meredith said, handing Lexie an unopened bottle of water, "Rise your mouth out with this."

Lexie nodded, swishing around a small amount of water before spitting it out. Meredith pulled into her driveway, getting out of the car before going to help Lexie get out.

"Come on," Meredith said, "Let's get you inside."

Lexie followed Meredith miserably, allowing the older woman to carry her bag.

"Come on," Meredith said, guiding Lexie up the stairs.

Meredith herself was exhausted from working 48 hours straight, she felt some need to take care of the younger Grey.

"In here," Meredith said, guiding Lexie into the master bedroom.

Derek was still banned from the house and this was the only open space in the house besides the attic and the living room, neither of which were good for a sick person.

"Go change," Meredith said, pointing to the bathroom, "Then you can come back and get into bed."

"Can I just sleep on the bathroom floor?" Lexie asked, rubbing her tired eyes as she looked at Meredith.

"I guess," Meredith said, confused.

"I always used to when I was sick when I was young," Lexie said, taking her bag and going into the bathroom.

Meredith changed into pajamas of her own before wandering down the hall. She went to check on Izzie.

"How are you Iz?" Meredith asked, opening the door after knocking.

"Better," Izzie said from the place she was sitting in her bed, "My fever is slowly coming down, and I held down some crackers and Pedialyte so I'd say I'm on the mend. I'll be back to work by my next shift. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," Meredith said, "Tired, but I'll survive. Lexie is here though."

"Why?" Izzie asked, confused.

She knew her roommate didn't exactly get along with her half-sister.

"She's sick," Meredith said with a sigh, "And her dad kicked her out of the house. She's been sleeping at the hospital for the last two weeks. Plus, I know how bad this virus sucks, and I didn't want her to have to ride it out in the on-call room."

"Where is she staying?" Izzie asked, knowing there wasn't any open space in the house.

"My room," Meredith said, seeing the weird look Izzie gave her, "Derek isn't going to come over because this house is still infected and I have an attached bathroom so it makes sense. I have a big bed, but she wants to sleep on the bathroom floor so it's fine. Do you need anything before I go crash?"

"I'm good," Izzie said, "Get some rest, and if you need help with Lexie, just let me know."

"Thanks," Meredith said, going down the hall to her room.

She climbed into her bed, grimacing as she heard Lexie throwing up in the bathroom.

She debated going to check on the younger woman, but before she could get up, she fell asleep.

* * *

**So there it was! I hope you liked it! What do you guys want to read next? I'm going back to Supergirl once this story is over, but is there anything specific you want to read? Let me know! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Here is the **next **chapter! Thanks to everyone who reads, reviews, follows, and favorites this story! I really enjoyed writing it! **

* * *

**_Flashback Cont. _**

Eight hours later, Meredith woke up, rubbing her eyes. She heard sounds coming from her bathroom, panicking for a second before she remembered she had brought Lexie home.

The sound coming from the bathroom, however, didn't sound like someone throwing up. It sounded more like someone crying.

Meredith got out of bed, going into the bathroom. There, she found Lexie curled up on the floor with tears running down her cheeks.

Without even thinking, Meredith sat down next to the sick woman.

"Are you alright?" Meredith asked softly, putting a hand on Lexie's back.

"No… yes…," Lexie said, shaking her head, "I just miss my mom."

"I'm sorry," Meredith said, slightly confused.

She knew Susan had died, but she wasn't sure why Lexie was missing her mother at this specific moment.

"She always used to take care of me when I was sick," Lexie explained, rubbing her eyes, "When I was little, she would stay with me no matter how sick I was, even when I threw up on her. And when I was in med school, I got pneumonia and was so sick and she flew across the country to take care of me because I was so weak, I could barely get out of bed. Even when I just had a cold or something, she would always make sure I had medicine and my favorite drinks, even when I was away at college, she would send me stuff or make sure I had what I would need if I got sick when she dropped me off. This is the first time I've been sick since she died and I just really miss her."

Lexie was sobbing again, and Meredith was feeling a little overwhelmed by the whole thing. However, Meredith moved to Lexie, rubbing her back gently. She tried to comfort the younger woman as best as she could.

Meredith never really had anyone care for her when she was sick. After her dad left, she spent her sick days at the hospital, being taken care of by the nurses because her mom couldn't be bothered to take time off to take care of her daughter. The nurses were great, but they had real patients who had actual emergencies so they couldn't take time to just cuddle with her or spend time with her.

Meredith learned by the age of 10 how to take care of herself when she was sick, reading medicine bottles to determine what she should take and how often.

Because she was an only child, Meredith didn't really have much experience taking care of other people either. However, she just went with her instincts. She moved closer to Lexie, allowing the sick woman to put her head in her lap.

"It's alright Lexie," Meredith said, stroking the younger woman's hair gently, "Don't cry. It's gonna make you feel worse."

Lexie tried to stop crying but didn't stop fast enough, ending up lunging for the toilet. Meredith held her hair back, rubbing her back gently as the younger woman threw up in the toilet.

Meredith couldn't figure out what was happening to her. She had no experience taking care of sick people in this way, and yet here she was, holding hair and comforting someone who she didn't really even know.

When Lexie finished, she collapsed back, breathing hard.

"Do you want some water?" Meredith asked gently.

Lexie nodded, wanting to rinse the terrible taste out of her mouth. Meredith got up, grabbing a dixie cup filled with water, handing it to the sick woman. Lexie rinsed her mouth, spitting the mouthful of water into the toilet before flushing it.

"How long did this part last?" Lexie asked shakily, hand on her stomach.

"Like twelve hours," Meredith said, "It was the same for Christina, Alex, and me so it seems pretty standard for this bug. The worst is probably almost over. It's been almost ten hours."

Lexie sighed, glad she was hopefully almost done with the vomiting part of this illness, but dreading having two more hours of feeling like this.

"But the fever is probably going to make you feel pretty shitty for at least another day, maybe two," Meredith said, shuddering a little when she though about how terrible she felt while she waited for her fever to break, "That seems to vary person to person."

"Yay," Lexie said with fake enthusiasm.

"Do you need anything?" Meredith asked gently, looking at Lexie who had curled back up on the floor.

Lexie shook her head, curling up with a blanket she had brought from her car.

"Would you like me to stay?" Meredith asked, not totally sure what to do in this situation.

"It's alright," Lexie said, shrugging, "I'm sure you have better things to do than sit here with me."

"I can stay," Meredith said, "Would you like me to go get my laptop so we can watch something?"

"Sure," Lexie said weakly, rubbing her eyes.

Meredith went into her room, grabbing her computer. She headed back to the bathroom, finding Lexie back over the toilet. She rubbed her back again, hoping that the vomiting would slow down soon so Lexie could rest because Meredith could see that the younger woman was becoming exhausted.

Lexie laid back down as Meredith turned on her laptop, turning on _Big Bang Theory, _one of her favorite shows. Lexie kinda reminded her of Sheldon with her crazy memory. Meredith herself had watched this show during the duration of her illness, letting the show bring her out of how terrible she was feeling.

Lexie continued to bounce back and forth between watching the show and throwing up in the toilet. Izzie popped her head in about two hours later, checking on Lexie and seeing if either Grey needed anything.

"I actually think I'm going to go make some lunch," Meredith said, looking at Lexie, "Are you alright if I leave for a little bit? I can leave the laptop for you."

"It's fine," Lexie said, nodding a little, "I'm a big girl. I can handle myself."

"I'll be back in a little bit," Meredith said.

Lexie just nodded, trying not to think about how much her stomach was bothering her. Meredith and Izzie headed downstairs, going into the kitchen.

"How are you feeling Iz?" Meredith asked, going to the fridge and grabbing out some sandwich fixings, making herself a turkey sandwich.

"Better," Izzie said, "My fever is gone, and I've held down some soup and crackers. I think I'm finally almost better. I should be on for our shift tomorrow morning."

"Good," Meredith said, taking a bite of her sandwich, "We need all the help we can get. About half the residences were out yesterday. It was brutal."

"This bug is awful," Izzie agreed, putting two pieces of bread into the toaster, deciding to make peanut butter toast for herself.

Meredith nodded, agreeing as she ate. The two roommates ate in silence, both exhausted for different reasons.

"I'm going to go back upstairs to hang out with Lexie," Meredith said.

"What's going on with you two?" Izzie asked, giving Meredith a look, "I thought you didn't really like her and now you are taking care of her while she's sick. Did I miss something?"

"I feel bad for her," Meredith said, shrugging her shoulders, "This is the first time she's been sick since Susan died, and she doesn't have anywhere or anyone else. I remember being sick for the first time after my dad left, and it was awful. He always took care of me, but then I was alone and it was hard."

"I can't even imagine," Izzie said, shaking her head.

Izzie had a good relationship with her mom. Sure, her mom wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but she really tried to make Izzie feel better when she was sick. She always took days off to stay home with her daughter when she was young and sick. She couldn't imagine not having someone to take care of her when she was little.

"Get some rest," Meredith said, grabbing a bottle of Pedialyte out of the fridge, knowing Lexie should be getting over the vomiting of the illness soon and would need to get rehydrated.

Meredith made it back up to her room, going to check on Lexie. She found the younger woman asleep on the floor. Meredith decided to move her to the bed, waking Lexie just enough to help her change into clean pajamas and get into bed.

Meredith then decided to wash Lexie's pajamas, street clothes, and blanket, figuring she probably didn't have a lot of time to wash her own stuff if she was living in the hospital.

Once that was done, Meredith decided to go take a nap herself. She got into bed next to Lexie, glad she had bought a king sized bed when she moved into this house. She fell asleep quickly, her body still needing a lot of sleep after being sick and working so much.

She woke up about an hour later when Lexie started moving around.

"Are you alright?" Meredith asked, noticing that Lexie seemed almost frantic.

"Where's my blanket?" Lexie asked, looking around the bed.

"I put it in the wash," Meredith said, confused as to why Lexie was so frantic, "Along with your clothes. Why?"

"It's a blanket my mom gave me before I went away to college," Lexie said, rubbing her tired, tear-filled eyes, "It just makes me feel like she's here with me. I haven't not slept with it since she died."

"Well, I can go throw it in the dryer and it will be ready in about an hour," Meredith said, feeling a little guilty about taking away the one piece of comfort the sick woman had.

Lexie nodded as Meredith got out of bed and ran downstairs to change the laundry. She went back upstairs, going to the closet in the hall and grabbing something before going back to the bedroom.

"Alright," Meredith said, "The dryer is going. In about an hour, you will have your blanket back. But, until then, this is a blanket that Thatcher left here when he left. I kept it and would sleep with it when I was having a bad day or was sick for a while after he left. I know he's not your favorite person right now. He's sure as hell not mine, but I know he was someone who was there for you."

Tears formed in Lexie's eyes as Meredith handed her the blanket.

"Thank you," Lexie said, wrapping the blanket around herself, "I know he was a terrible dad to you, and that I've been angry at him too, but until my mom died, he was a really good dad to me. It's been so hard not having a relationship with him since she died."

Meredith had the strange urge to comfort the younger woman, getting back on the bed and letting Lexie lean on her shoulder. Lexie just sat there for a minute, enjoying the feeling of comfort from someone for the first time in months.

"Sorry," Lexie said, rubbing her tired eyes as she moved away from Meredith, "I get really emotional when I'm sick. I'm sure you have better things to do than sit here and watch me cry."

"It's fine," Meredith said, "How are you feeling? Physically I mean."

"I don't feel like I'm going to throw up every ten minutes," Lexie said, sighing, "But I have a killer headache and my body hurts."

"Some of that is probably dehydration," Meredith said, "I brought up some Pedialyte earlier. I think I brought up the unflavored kind, but we have like five bottles of every flavor downstairs in the fridge so just let me know what kind you want."

"Unflavored is fine," Lexie said, "Grape is my favorite, but I don't really want anything with flavor right now. Why do you have so much of this stuff?"

"Well, with everyone being sick, we took a bunch of it from the hospital," Meredith said, "Plus, it's everyone's favorite hangover cure around here."

Lexie nodded, taking a few small sips from the bottle Meredith gave her. Lexie fell back asleep pretty quickly.

Meredith got a few more hours of sleep as well before she had to get up for work.

She went and got Lexie's blanket from the dryer, draping it over the sleeping woman. She also left a sleeve of saltines and a bottle of grape Pedialyte next to her before grabbing a quick shower and meeting Izzie downstairs.

The two went to work, running into Alex in the locker room.

"Hey Iz," He said, smiling at his best friend, "Feeling better?"

"Yeah," Izzie said, nodding as she went to change, "Been fever free for over 12 hours, and haven't thrown up in over a day and a half."

"Just a heads up," Meredith said to Alex, "Lexie is sleeping at our house right now."

"Why?" Alex asked, knowing the Grey sister's weren't that close.

"She's sick," Meredith explained, pulling on her scrub top, "And she didn't have anywhere else to go. She's sleeping in my room so don't worry about it too much. I just wanted to let you know."

"Thanks," Alex said, nodding as Meredith and Izzie both pulled on their white coats and headed out for rounds.

* * *

**There it was! There is only one more chapter before this story ends! Also, can you all believe Grey's is coming back in like a week and a half! I'm so excited! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Alright Guys! Here is the last chapter of this story. I hope you enjoy! **

* * *

_**Flashback Continued **_

The day was relatively standard for Meredith. She got lunch with Derek and got to have some time with him for the first time in days. She headed home the next morning, all but forgetting that her little half-sister who was staying with her until Izzie brought it up.

"How's Lexie doing?" Izzie asked as they got into the car to drive home.

"I forgot she was even staying with us," Meredith said with a sign, "I haven't heard from her so I'm assuming she's going alright."

The two drove home in silence, getting out of the car and heading into the house as soon as they got home.

They had seen Alex at the hospital so they knew he was already gone for the day.

They both ate a quick meal before going upstairs to their respective rooms.

"Hey," Meredith said, seeing Lexie was awake in her room, "How are you feeling?"

"Eh," Lexie said, shrugging, "I kept down some crackers and a little soup that Alex brought me, but I still have a fever that's making me feel terrible."

"You'll feel better soon," Meredith said reassuringly, pulling on her pajamas, "I'm going to go to sleep. Can I get you anything?"

"No," Lexie said, shaking her head, "I'm going to sleep too."

Over the next day, Lexie slowly got better. By the next day, the younger woman was better and ready to go to work. She had picked up an extra shift on Meredith's service because her coworker had caught the flu.

"I'll be out of your hair now," Lexie said, packing up her bag, "Thanks for taking care of me. I know I'm not your favorite person, or even someone you like, but thank you for taking care of me."

"It's not that I don't like you," Meredith said, stopping Lexie before she walked out of the room to go downstairs to wait for Meredith and Lexie to be ready, "You are a very nice woman. I don't like Thatcher and that he left me to have you, but that's not your fault. It's just hard having you around because you remind me of what I could have had, but I don't hate you."

Lexie looked up at Meredith with a small smile.

"Thank you," she said, blinking tears out of her eyes, "And I'm sorry for what my dad did to you. It wasn't fair to you at all."

"I know," Meredith said, nodding in acknowledgment, "But I know you had nothing to do with any of that."

Lexie nodded, grateful that this woman who she had learned to look up to was finally willing to talk to her.

"Also," Meredith said, going to Lexie and taking her bag, "You are not going to sleep in the hospital any more. I have a room in the attic that you can have, at least until you figure out what you are doing."

"I couldn't," Lexie said, shaking her head, "I'll be fine. I'll find a place to live soon."

"And until then, you can just stay here," Meredith said, "Look, I know what it's like to be abandoned by Thatcher. It's not fun at any age. Just stay here until you find a place."

"Thank you," Lexie said, tears in her eyes, "Can I bring my car over after my shift?"

"Of course," Meredith said, nodding as she and Lexie headed out of the bedroom and downstairs.

Izzie met them in the living room and the three headed out.

"Say hello to your new roommate," Meredith said to Izzie as they climbed into the car.

"What?" Izzie said, confused.

"Lexie is moving into the attic," Meredith said, watching Izzie's facial expression.

"Really?" Izzie said, confused, "That's … nice."

"It will be," Meredith said, smiling at Lexie in the mirror, "It really will be."

**_End Flashback_ **

Meredith smiled as she thought back to that time. Lexie had moved in and out of the house, having moved in with George then back into Meredith's then in with Mark twice only to end up back at Meredith's after each time it just didn't work out.

Meredith didn't mind. She kept the bed in that attic free for Lexie whenever she needed it.

Since the first time Meredith had brought Lexie home, the two women had grown close and truly enjoyed being with each other.

Meredith made her way back to her bedroom after grabbing the younger woman's pillow, finding Lexie curled up on the bathroom floor looking absolutely miserable.

"I brought you pajamas, your pillow, and your blanket," Meredith said, setting the stuff down on the floor next to Lexie, grabbing a pony tail and pulling her sister's recently dyed brunette hair into a quick braid before Lexie changed into her pajamas.

"I hate being sick," Lexie said, tears filling her eyes.

"I know," Meredith said as Lexie leaned on her shoulder, "Hopefully you'll feel better soon. April was only really sick for like eight hours I think."

Lexie just groaned as she moved quickly to the toilet. Meredith stayed with her, rubbing her back. Lexie leaned back when she was done, wiping her mouth with a piece of toilet paper before flushing the toilet.

"God, I forgot how awful this is," Lexie said, laying down slowly as Meredith motioned for her to lay on her lap.

Meredith wrapped Lexie in the old blanket Susan had made for her.

"Remember the first time I got sick after I started at Seattle Grace?" Lexie asked, rubbing her red eyes.

"How could I forget," Meredith said, laughing a little, "You were so miserable, and I had no clue what to do with you."

"For not knowing what you were doing, you did a good job," Lexie said, smiling a little at her older sister, "And that was really the start of our relationship."

"True," Meredith said, smiling a little.

"Even though I was so sick, I am so glad for what came out of those few days," Lexie said, closing her eyes as a wave of nausea fell over her body.

Meredith rubbed her back, trying to calm her down.

"So am I," Meredith said, watching as Lexie opened her eyes, clearly over the intense nausea for the time being.

"Thank you for taking care of me," Lexie said, pulling her blanket closer to her face, "Then and now."

* * *

**So there it was. My first every published Grey's story. What did you guys think? I enjoyed writing it. I'm not feeling particularly inspired by any new story idea I have at the moment, though I have tried to start writing a Supergirl story about Lena and Kara helping Nia through the aftermath of her mom's death. I'm just having a hard time getting into it. I am going back through some stuff I've publish but never finished and am trying to finish those stories. I don't know. I'm just rambling at this point. As always, any prompts are always welcomed! **


End file.
